I generally used Garmin Mobile and Centrafuse to access my music collection. My wifi adapter basically just sat in my cup holder. The mini keyboard was nice for troubleshooting and installation, but I never used it other than that, so if you have a spare USB keyboard lying around I'd just use that. I never really used Windows itself, just auto loaded Centrafuse on startup. For some reason whenever I plugged more than three devices in the usb ports, they would all start malfunctioning and I believe it was due to the fact that I only had the M2-ATX 160W power supply from this site. If you want more than that, I'd suggest buying a powered USB splitter. I have a portable dvd burner as well that I never used because of power issues. The OBDII and bluetooth were going to be my next purchases, but my motherboard died so I'm just going to sell the entire lot.

07-25-2011, 07:57 PM

soundman98

this weekend, it was about to be used to eliminate a perfectly good window pane.

if only i had more time to trouble shoot it.

08-07-2011, 07:48 PM

JKrepps

Navigation and music. Never had any data connectivity on the carPC, so a lot of the 'live' features were not available and was already used to using my phone anyway.

09-13-2011, 08:13 PM

DodgeCharger

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundman98

this weekend, it was about to be used to eliminate a perfectly good window pane.

if only i had more time to trouble shoot it.

I've been there before and you know it haha! dont give up!

09-14-2011, 01:52 AM

Mickz

Garmin Navigation - always on, digital radio and/or music, adjusting the climate control, front and rear drive recording - always on, reverse camera, OBDII, voltage monitoring and battery charge indication. Have a mini keyboard just in case (it’s a win PC), never use the touch screen much as everything is run from steering wheel controls or a FE control panel in the centre console between the front seats. All of the above functions are used on almost any car trip. The system has a complete intergrated OEM feel which was my aim. Anyone can hop in the car and drive it/use it without having to touch anything but the steering wheel controls or FeDrive panel. No special start-up or turn-off conditions to worry or think about, which is what you want.

09-14-2011, 11:58 AM

HiJackZX1

Mine is still on a test bench, but I plan to use it for everything. Right now I do a lot of my work from my HTC EVO phone. Trying to work on my work PC from it takes so long. So once the Car PC is in, I will have proper abilities to work while on the road. Plan to have all features, NAV, TPMS, OBD2, Pandora, Shoutcast, etc. Then on Zone 2 will have all multimedia, DVD, Dishnetwork via Sling, Games, chat, web, etc. Then on the personal units it will be only web, music, video, and a few other options.

09-15-2011, 04:59 AM

Carson Dyle

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundman98

i only see one reason not to include wifi--if you can tether to your internet-enabled phone.

i also think that a keyboard is necessary as well. there is only so much you can do on a 7" screen before you start to go crazy trying to use a stylus to type stuff..

I disagree with both of these statements.

I want wifi so that when the car is parked in the garage or driveway it can be connected to my home network and I can easily update software and the music library on the system's hard drive(s).

For management I plan on using remote desktop from the comfort of the chair in my office, so I have little need for a keyboard or mouse directly connected to the PC in the car. This too requires wifi. I manage many headless servers both at work and at home and very seldom need to attach anything to them.

My plans for the computer are #1: audio (3000 albums beats the hell out of fiddling with 200 CDs in cases) and a distant #2: navigation (I know where I am and where I'm going at least 99.9% of the time). No OBDII, no web access, no movies, no games, no backup cameras, no videotaping my sexual exploits in back seat.

04-04-2012, 06:41 AM

Gullimonster

Just the general stuff.
Mostly music, then some navigation (always nice to see surrounding roads and rivers, etc when on a road trip) and front camera recording.
When I take a break on long trips I use the Internet to watch movies on Youtube, check mail, news, etc. And of course a few small casual games.
Oh yeah, the phone is connected via Bluetooth too with handsfree functions.
I wish I could use OBD, but my car only has OBD1. Maybe Ill do an ECU swap some time (to OBD2), but thats rather expensive for just a few added features, even if its a used unit.
Next thing will be an extra touch screen for the passenger and TPMS.

04-04-2012, 08:50 AM

besjr69

Primarily music. Next navigation. Next engine diagnostics and monitoring.